1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of, and an apparatus for highly efficiently producing pneumatic tires.
2. Description of Related Art
As known in the art, in order to produce pneumatic tires, a green tires with a substantially toroidal cross section is formed on a building drum, and then transferred into a vulcanizing mold while it is maintained open. The vulcanizing mold is then closed and a heat medium at high temperature and high pressure is supplied into a bladder of the vulcanizer, thereby inflating the bladder within the green tire and vulcanizing the green tire in the mold to form a product tire.
The above-mentioned conventional vulcanizing process suffers from a problem that a substantial waiting time is required before vulcanization of the green tire is actually started. It would be highly desirable to eliminate or shorten the waiting time for the vulcanizing process as far as possible, thereby improving the overall work efficiency and productivity at a tire factory.